A King for the Throne
by Cwalk
Summary: King Griffen is dead and his consort, Prince James must marry a man and make him the new king.  But not wanting to choose a lord from the court he writes the a young barbarian king, wishing to take him has his husband and make him king. mpreg
1. Chapter 1

"The King is dead! The King is dead!" shouted a messenger as he rode out of the palace courtyard. Soon others started echoing his news and the cries of the city were replaced with the news of my husband's death. The great plague struck little over a month ago and already so many had died. In two days after the first death smoke from funeral pyres seemed to be a regular fixture over the marble city. The cries of loved ones never silenced, keeping me up at night.

My husband planned for us to move to the country palace in hopes we would be safe from this curse but by the time the royal household was ready to leave there was no safe passage out of the city. So we closed the palace gates and locked ourselves inside our chambers, hoping the gods would spare us. Servants wouldn't even do their chores under penalty of death, in fear they would be touched by the plague. The first death was a servant boy of mine. I would have nursed him but the king had ordered all who were touched inside the palace to be killed.

Down in the courtyard servants draped in black were already quickly building a pyre for my husband. Normally he would have been placed in an elaborate tomb, filled with tributes from all his lords and momentums from his reign but it could not be risked now. By his law all who died must be burnt imminently.

"My lord?" my most trusted servant Carlos nervously asked, "Are you all right." I didn't turn to look at him but continued to watch as the pyre was clumsily put together. I knew he was asking if the death of my husband had set in yet and if my heart was broken. But it was not. I never loved him, and he never loved me. He prized me for my beauty and the rarity of my gift. I was a hermaphoditous, a rare gifted boy, touched by the goddess of fertility, given the ability to conceive and bier children. The gift was so rare that priests were convinced that the gods meant for the Touched, as we are called, to be the consort of kings and bier their heir. I was taken into the harem when I was only three and crowned Prince Consort when I was eleven, after my courses began. So there was no love lost at the death of my husband.

But my mind was worried as I watched. Soon my husband would be put to the pyre, the old king would be gone and no new king to follow. I had failed to give him an heir. In my five years as Prince Consort I had been pregnant three times, two miscarriages and one still birth. He had left son to follow him to the throne, just a daughter, the princess Mercedes, from his first Queen and by law any sons from the harem were declared bastards and unable to become king. What was to be my fate I did not know.

"My lord?" he asked again as he laid a gentle hand on my shoulder for comfort.

"I heard you," I said but did not shake him off. He was my closest friend and I needed some normality now. "It's a strange way to hear that one is a widow. From a horseman yelling it threw the streets." Before he could reply there was a commotion in the hall, we heard people shouting and heavy footsteps getting closer. The doors burst open and Lord Rocque stormed in followed by ten armed guards.

"Seal off all the exists!" he shouted "I want guards posted at this door and on the balcony all the time. No one is to come or go without my approval!" They were quick to do as he was ordered. They bolted the doors leading to the servant passages and the door to the courtyard connecting my chambers with the kings. Two guards pushed past Carlos and I and took post outside.

"What is the meaning of this Lord Rocque?" I demanded, furious for both the invasion and the way he stormed in. He ignored me, continuing his search behind every sofa and curtain. "Lord Rocque!" I shouted. Seeming satisfied he turned his attention to me and explained.

"I apologize your highness but I do this for your own protection," he said.

"My protection?" I asked, disbelieving him. Lord Rocque had never made any effort to hide his disapproval of me and took every opportunity to slit me.

"Yes," he said more calmly than I had ever heard him speak, "The king, your husband, is dead and without a son. The throne is there for the taking if one has the right tools. By law whoever takes your hand in marriage will be king."

"You plan to marry me?" I asked completely shocked at the idea. I could not stand being married to this man for the rest of my life. Having him touch me in any way, bearing his children.

"No," he nearly shouted "Even if my nature would allow me to, but others would. I am here to make sure a man we do not want as king does not do that."

"You mean a man you do not want to be king," I corrected "and who would this man be?"

"Lord Hawk," he said "your highness I know we have not always been on the best of terms but I do care for this empire. I have worked hard alongside King Griffin to make sure it flourished and I will not have my life's work be undermined by a power hungry lord." His words made sense and I needed an ally right now, even if it was Lord Gustavo Rocque.

"Then who shall it be?" I asked, curious of who would be my future husband. The lords of the court raced through my mind. They were either all old and married or young and ruthless in their own way of proving themselves.

"I have not decided," he said sitting down on the couch and signaled to Carlos to bring him a drink. I sat down opposite him and took the drink Carlos offered me. "He would have to be a strong man," he took the drink from Carlos and took a sip "Not only in physical strength but strong enough to keep the empire from dividing." Just then the doors opened again and Gustavo's wife, Lady Kelly, came in followed by Gustavo's incredibly large bodyguard.

"Hawk reached Princess Mercedes before we could," said Lady Kelly as she sat down on next to her husband. "He married her to Lord Stetson." Gustavo jumped up and yelled as he threw his glass across the room. He stormed about, pushing Carlos down and tossing over a table.

"That bastard!" he finally shouted "This changes everything. We must act quickly," he said kneeling in front of me, "We must find you a husband very soon and then you must conceive a son."

"How does this change things?" I asked confused.

"Because he plans to kill you," Lady Kelly said, "the Law of Succession states that if the king dies without a son then the Royal Consorts next husband shall rule. But if the Royal Consort is to die then the husband of the king's oldest daughter shall inherit the thrown." So Hawks plan didn't even include me at all, I was nothing but a bug in his path to be squashed on the road to better and greater things.

"All our lives are at risk your highness," Gustavo said, "These are uncertain times we have been thrusted into. The future of the empire resides solely in your hands."

"Have your servants die your clothes black and dress you for the funeral. It will not be as is should be but he was still a king. You will not light the pyre as tradition would have it but instead watch from your balcony," Lady Kelly said as she placed a hand on my shoulder. She was not hard as her husband, she was loving and caring. She would have made a great mother if she was not baron. They left with parting words I did not hear and Carlos led me into the bath. Gustavo's words haunted me. The fate of the empire was in my hands, the future depended on the husband I would choose. But who? I am the Prince Consort. All of the lords are below me in station and I know their hearts to well. They are all corrupted by a lifetime of court politics. What the empire needed was not a new king but a new man. One who was untainted by the court, one who is good and true, and of honest heart. But who?

I thought those things as Carlos finished bathing me and wrapped a towel around my waist. He painted my face white and my eyes and lips black as tradition demanded. He and another servant, Camille, dressed me in a black robe and placed my golden diadem on top my head. When Carlos placed a black fur cloak on my shoulders I thought how pretty and soft the fur was. I remember the old fur trader that had sold it to me. He had gotten it from up north, in the Unclaimed Lands. I started to remember something he and told me.

A story of a young king whose father was a nobody, a mere peasant, who married a princess. His father and mother ran from her brother, the king, for years before king found them and murdered his father. He was only fourteen at the time of his father's death, and he sought vengeance on his evil uncle. He went out to the rural villages and raised an army of a thousand. They marched to his uncle's castle and laid siege and after only three days they breeched the walls and he took the thrown. The trader said it was a pity that he was born to the tribes of the Unclaimed Lands, otherwise he could have been a great ruler. That was the type of man the empire needed.

I watched as Gustavo lit the pyre and the priests sang the songs of mourning to help my husband's soul cross to the afterlife. Gustavo and the priests were the only ones close to the pyre, the other lords cringed against the courtyard walls trying to stay as far away from death as they could. Yes they were all cowards, I saw it then. None of them would ever be king and take my bed. We would have a king like the trader told of. _No_ I thought _We will have him_.

After the pyre had burned down I went back inside and tossed my cloak onto a nearby sofa. The trader said it had come from a land called Minnesota. I sat down at my desk and wrote a short letter.

_My husband has died and I have no son. They say that you could be a great king if only you had a great empire. Might you come and be my husband I will give you an empire. I would not wish to take one of my subjects as a husband... I am afraid._

When I finished the letter I folded it and marked it with the Royal Seal. I thought quickly of a way to get it to him. Gustavo had left instructions for only Carlos and Camille to come and go, I and the rest of my servants were trapped in my quarters.

"Carlos," I called, only having to wait a moment before he entered.

"Yes Prince James?" he asked as he curtsied.

"I need your help," I said, feeling the tears forming in my eyes. This had to be done now. It could not wait, "What I am about to ask you may be the most dangerous thing you will ever do."

"You know I will do anything for you Your Highness," he said, taking my hand in his.

"I must marry," I said "And I have chosen who it will be but he is not of the court."

"Who is it?" he asked curiously.

"King Kendall of Minnesota," I said.

"A foreigner?" he gasped, horror filled his face "A foreigner had never sat on the thrown."

"It is the only way," I explained "we need him Carlos. Our empire cannot service another king who only cares about himself. We need a man who will love his people as his children and fend off invaders as a mother lion protects her cubs."

"If it is what you think is best," he said "than so it shall be."

"Good," I said "You must travel north, threw the Unclaimed Lands and take him this letter," I saw him begin to protest, "No you must do it. Take my laundry out and go. You must leave tonight. Camille will pack you food for your journey."

"Yes my Lord," he said as he bowed "Anything for you."

"I will never be able to repay you," I said as I hugged him goodbye. He left an hour later and I watched as he made his way through the shadows in the courtyard and over the wall. That was it than, soons I would have a new husband and for the first time of the history of California a barbarian would sit on the thrown.


	2. Chapter 2

I stood there and watched as my wife and son, who never got a chance to live, were set out to sea. Their bodies were wrapped in fresh linen and my child was cradled in his mother's lifeless arms. It was a hard enough to lose my wife and child but losing them together was almost unbearable. I had married Josephine to unite our two kingdoms, there may not have been true love but she was my wife.

A cool hand grasped mine and I looked down and say my younger sister starring up at my with tear filled eyes. She and Josephine had become close friends in the short year she had been my wife. She was a very kind and companionate woman, she would have been a good queen if she had lived long enough. She was the only one that understood my dream of uniting the kingdoms. Even though I had others support I think she was the only one who truly believed I could do it.

I looked back out over the bay in time for Logan to yell "Archers ready! Aim! Fire!" hundreds of flaming arrows flew out over the bay, igniting the sky, lighting the small boat on fire. I heard a cry and looked over and saw her mother had fallen the ground in grief. My mother promptly rushed over and took her up in her arms. My mother looked so natural in her black wool dress with her red hair pulled loosely up. She had never come out of mourning after my father's death, sometimes I wondered if she would ever love again. I doubted it, when he died he took her heart with her. I wished I had that kind of love with Josephine.

We all stood there until the flames consumed the boat and it sank into the water. I helped my mother half carry Lady Irene back to the castle. Once back I settled up on my throne on the dais and the servants began carrying in the funeral feast. The throne room was filled with the smell of roasting wild boar and venison. The wine flowed freely for all as lords and other kings gave their respects for Josephine and expressed their grievances for the loss of my son. I know it is an awful thing to say, but I believe I was more upset that she died in vain than anything else. If my son had lived it would have been a fair trade, right?

"My king," Logan said coming up and kneeling beside me, "can I bring you anything?" Logan was my first in command and my most trusted adviser. He was my best friend, he was with me during our banishment. His father fought alongside mine, they shared our grievances with us, and when I needed him most he supported me in taking my uncles throne.

"I am fine Logan," I said, giving him a small smile, "Thank you."

"No one should have to go through what you have. But I am sure The Watcher has some plan in all this." Leave it to him to try to make some divine sense in all of this. Maybe he was right, they say all things that happen are the will of The Watcher and it was not up to us to make sense of them.

"We will see my friend," I said as I took a drink from my wine, "We will see." The day passed into night and everyone was sorrowful mood turned into drunken bliss. Toasts were constantly given in the deceased's honor. It got rather annoying as the night progressed, only seeming to say what they thought I wanted to hear. After what seemed like the thousandth speech Logan approached the dais.

"My lord," he said as he bowed, "A messenger has arrived." I looked around the hall, all the kings and lords of the neighboring kingdoms were there. Who would send a message of condolence instead of coming?

"Send him in," I said. Logan looked around nervously and shuffled his feet, something I knew him to do when he had something to say that he didn't want others to hear. I motioned for him to approach. He came up quickly and knelt down beside me so he could speak in my ear.

"He will only give the message to you. In private," he said "He is from California." I was confused. Yes in the past we had had our skirmishes with them when they ventured north to conquer our lands but never had they sent a message of any sort directly to us. I got up quickly and made my way out of the hall with Logan hot on my heals.

"Where is he?" I asked when we reached the entrance hall.

"In your chambers," he said and added quickly "but I made sure he was unharmed first." We hurried up the stairs and out across the battlements that led to the royal apartments. In all truth they were only one chamber were privileged guest could come for an audience and were I ate when I didn't feel like eating in the Great Hall and a small room where my slept. Upon entering I saw a shorter young man with black hair and tanned skin wherein a dark blue rob, far to light for our harsh winters. He was warming himself by the fire and did not hear us enter.

"Would you like a warmer cloak?" I offered him half out of hospitality and half to get his attention. He jumped and spun around, a look of pure horror on his face. He dropped into a deep bow, his nose touching the floor.

"Forgive me your Majesty," he said, "I was so cold. I did not know your country was so cold."

"Did no one tell you before you began your journey?" I asked amused at his terror. I did not mean to be cruel, but the way he looked was quite hilarious.

"My master had no knowledge of your land sire," he said still facing the floor. Why would anyone send their servant on a mission without knowing about the land they were sending their them? "It was important that I left quickly and traveled as lightly as possible."

"What is the message that is so important that it could not wait?" I asked curiously "Surely the King of California could send an envoy to speak with me."

"I was not sent by the king," he said looking up at me, "The King Griffin is dead. I was sent by his Royal Consort." He held up a sealed letter.

"What does she want?" I asked but he looked up confused at me.

"There is no _she_ but _he_ explains it all in the letter," he again offered up the letter but I was more confused now than ever.

"Griffin's consort was male?" I asked completely confused at the practicality of it, "What purpose would that serve? A male cannot conceive heirs."

"Prince James can," he said "He is a Touched." He must have seen my confusing because he then explained, "A Touched is a hermaphoditous, a male who has been graced by the gods with the gift to bear children. They are so rare that when one appears the king must take him as his Royal Consort."

"Must?" I asked not knowing how anyone could make a king do anything.

"Yes," he said simply, "The gods demand it." Now I was more than curious of what this mysterious man wanted from me. I walked over and took the letter he once again offered up from him. I sat down on a chair by the fire, putting my feet up. I looked over and he was still bowing. I sighed as I broke the seal and unfolded the mysterious letter.

_My husband has died and I have no son. They say that you could be a great king if only you had a great empire. Might you come and be my husband I will give you an empire. I would not wish to take one of my subjects as a husband... I am afraid._

That was it, short and simple and to the point yet still very mysterious. He made his offer and expressed his concern. But it didn't seem right, it seemed too easy.

"What is the meaning of this," I demanded of the dark haired boy, "and in the name of The Watcher get up!" He got to his feet and folded his hands.

"King Griffin died without a son," he explained "Now as our laws state whoever marries the Royal Consort will be the next king."

"And he wants me?" I asked, it seemed too good to be true. The Californians have flaunted their superiority to us, trying to take our lands, and now the Prince Consort wants me to become king. To unite our two lands without war is a chance of a lifetime. And with our armies combined I could continue to unite the northern tribes. The dream of all the land being united under one banner is my greatest one.

"He does," he said "he heard tales of what a great man you are and believes you would be good for the empire. In all truth the empire is on verge of splitting. We need a strong king who would keep that from happening."

"Tell me about him," I said. I heard Logan gasp, shocked I was considering such a thing at all let along on the day of my wife's funeral.

"He is beautiful," he exclaimed, "He is known all threw out the empire as the Immortal Diamond. They say next to him the world's greatest jewels look dull."

"That is a high standard to live up to," Logan said from where he stood by the door.

"Yes it is," I agreed, "You serve him. Is it true?"

"It is," he said "He is irresistible almost any man." He spent the next hour telling me of this man who wants me to take him as mine. The more he told me the more I found myself needing to have him, to possess him. They way he described his master in such detail I found myself rock hard. Perhaps all the wine I drank that night had a good deal to do with that. "But his highness wishes to accept the offer you must go at once. He is in grave danger."

"What do you mean?" I asked concerned for the man whom I decided to take as my consort.

"King Griffin left a daughter," he explained "If Prince James were to die then Princess Mercedes husband gets the throne. A Lord of the Court, Hawk, married her off to one of his allies. My master is safe for now, Palm Woods Palace is as strong a fortress as it is a luxurious palace."

"Then we must make haste," I declared getting up. The rest of the night I spent in the Great Hall discussing this with my counsel. Half were opposed to the idea and others agreed it would be a good opportunities to unite our lands. I let them yell and scream with each other because in the end I knew what I was going to do. I would go and make James mine.

"Why not take a Minnesotan queen?" one yelled "the people will accept that."

"But an opportunities like this will never arise again!" shouted another. Goblets and plats began flying across the hall. I saw men drawing their swords and jumped up.

"ENOUGH!" I shouted, the whole hall went quiet and every eye was on me, "As you all know I respect all of your opinions but in the end I will do what I believe is right. Now those of you who do not approve of this union may stay here. I will let you all govern as a counsel in my absence. The rest may come with me and help me in my quest to unite our peoples."

"But my lord" said one lord "Your wife just died. Have some respect."

"I do my wife no disrespect my remarrying," I told him a bit angry he would bring that up. "I have made my decision. I will take James as my consort."

The castle was in frenzy as everyone packed and made ready for our departure. Carlos told me all about California and I couldn't wait, I was almost as excited as he was but he was more eager to get back to his warm climate and I wanted to go and meet this Immortal Diamond. _Soon my dear_ I thought_ Soon you shall be mine._


	3. Chapter 3

We made good time leaving Minnesota, traveling down over the mountains, over the Great Plains, and threw the desert. I spent much of this time with Logan, learning about California from Carlos. From him I learned that our main opposition won't be the people, though he made it no secret their hearts would not easily be won, but a Lord of The Court named Hawk. He planned to lay claim to the throne by marring his nephew to Griffin's only daughter. We would have to get to Los Angles as soon as humanly possible.

Two weeks to the day after we left we crossed over into California between the anceint ruins of the city of Reno and the northern side of Lake Tahoe, there we met our enemy for the first time. White flags bearing a single black hawk poised to strike, they numbered 10,000. Logan suggested crossing the river upstream and attacking at dawn the next day, but deciding to catch them off guard I ventured to attack at once. The our line was arrayed with the heavy Phalanxes, a rectangular mass military formation composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, and similar weapons in the middle, and cavalry on either side. I was on the right flank with my top commanders, also known as the companions. The Californians expected the main assault to come from our position and moved units from their center to that flank.

The battle started with a cavalry and light infantry feint from our left, from Logan's side of the battle line. The Californians heavily reinforced that side, and the feint was driven back, but at that point, I led the horse companions in a classic wedge-shaped charge, and smashed into the center of the Californian line. The Californians countercharged with a squadron of nobles on horse. When our lines met I managed to save several high-ranking Californian nobles before being stunned by an axe-blow from a Californian nobleman named. Before the noble could deal a death-blow, he was himself killed by Logan. He quickly lent me his hand and hoisted me up unto his horse. We rode up behind another noble, Logan thrusted his sword into the man and fell to the ground, being trampled on by Minnesotan and Californian horses alike. I jumped onto the fallen mans horse and rejoined the fighting.

The our cavalry then turned left and started rolling up the Californian cavalry, which was engaged with the left side of the our line after a general advance. A hole opened in the recently vacated place in the battle line, and the our infantry charged through to engage the poor-quality Californian infantry in the rear. At this, and with many of their leaders already dead, both flanks of the Californian cavalry retreated, seeing the collapse of the center. The infantry also routed, many being cut down as they fled.

In total we lost somewhere between 300 and 400. The Californians though had roughly 1,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry killed, mostly in the rout. The Minnesotan mercenaries, under the command of Memnon of Rhodes, who fought for the Californians, were abandoned after the cavalry retreat. They attempted to broker a peace with Kendall but to no avail. As a result, after the battle Kendall ordered his infantry, who until this point had played no role in the battle, to slaughter the mercenaries to a man. 18,000 mercenaries were killed and 2,000 enslaved and sent back to Macedonia in chains for hard labour.

From there we continued west before following the coast south. I had sent Logan and a third of the army off to Sacramento, who opened their gates gladly for him and threw the governor who Hawk had installed at Logan's feet. I told Logan not to enforce our laws or our customs on these people. But instead find a man noble of heart to rule as steward of the city in my stead. Logan was told of a man who was the last member of a ancient house of kings. He found this man at the edge of the city where he lived as an orange farmer. Logan rode up and the man was up a ladder picking his crop. Logan said "Sir would you please come down so I may make a proposition to you. I am here to install you as Steward of Sacramento."

"I'm busy," the man said not looking away from his work, "These oranges aren't going to pick themselves. I don't have the time govern a city." At this Logan burst out laughing.

"Would you please come down?" He asked again, "You are the man King Kendall wants." So the man finally came down and they went inside. Logan rejoined us two days later, leaving Sacramento with a new steward.

We were not so welcomed in San Francisco where I encountered Hawk at last. They closed their gates and the royal families went behind the walls of an island fortress, Alcatraz. The bulk of Hawks forces laid between us and the city. We advanced from the north side of the city, I myself leading half the Companion cavalry on the right flank and the other half of the cavalry on the left of the phalanx with Logan in command.

Hawk formed his line with his heavy cavalry concentrated next to the coast on his left, followed by the Minnesotan mercenary phalanx. Next to the hired Minnesotan phalanx Hawk spread his infantry, the Cardaces, along the river and into the foothills, where they wrapped around to the shore and threatened my right flank. Hawk was positioned in the centre with his best infantry, the Minnesotan mercenaries, and his royal cavalry guard like the coward he was.

The Californian cavalry first charged Logan's cavalry, beginning the battle. My left wing once again became the crux of the battle, where Logan held the wing long enough against superior Californian numbers for me to make my calculated cavalry strike against Hawk and break the Californian army. The Hypaspists, led myself on foot, delivered an assault during this time across the riverbed on the Cardaces and managed to punch a hole through the Californian line.

I then mounted a horse at the head of my Companion cavalry and led a direct assault against Hawk who then fled from the battlefield. I looked and saw my left flank and center were in trouble, and instead of pursuing Hawk, I returned to help and crashed into the rear of the Minnesotan mercenaries. The Minnesotan mercenaries broke up. The Californians saw that their comander had gone and that the battle was being lost, and they abandoned their positions and fled in full rout. The Minnesotan cavalry pursued the fleeing Californians for as long as there was light.

The city was easy enough to take then. I found a vulnerable spot in their defenses, an old water way around the south end of the city. The problem was Alcatraz, an island fortress that was more its own city than anything else. With the royal families held up their the city would once again return its allegiance to Hawk as soon as we left. I then began an engineering feat that would go down in history for its brilliance; as I could not attack Alcatraz from the sea, I would buid a kilometer-long causeway stretching out to the island on a natural land bridge no more than two meters deep.

This mole would allow my artillery to get in range of the walls but as the work came near the walls, however, the water became much deeper, and the combined attacks from the walls and San Franciscon navy made construction nearly impossible. Logan suggested we construct two towers 160 ft high and move them to the end of the causeway. Like most of siege towers, these would be moving artillery platforms, with catapults on the top to clear defenders off of the walls, and ballista below to hurl rocks at the wall and attacking ships. The towers were built and were made of wood, but were covered in rawhide to protect them from fire arrows. but the San Franciscons quickly devised a counterattack.

They used an old horse transport ship, filling it with dried branches, pitch, sulfur, and various other combustibles. They hung cauldrons of oil from the masts, so that they would fall onto the deck once the masts burned through. They also weighed down the back of the ship so that the front rose above the water. They lit it on fire and ran it up onto the causeway. The fire spread quickly, engulfing both towers and other siege equipment that had been brought up. The San Franciscon ships swarmed the pier, destroying any siege equipment that hadn't caught fire, and driving off Macedonian crews that were trying to put out the fires.

I began thinking that I would not be able to take Alcatraz without a navy. Luckily a Californian Lord arrived with a hundred twenty ships from up north. He had heard of my victories and wished to join me. I sailed on Alcatraz and quickly blockaded both ports with my superior numbers. I had several of the slower galleys, and a few barges, refit with battering rams. Finding that large underwater blocks of stone kept the rams from reaching the walls, I had them removed by crane ships. The rams then anchored near the walls, but Alcatraz sent out ships and divers to cut the anchor cables. I quickly responded by replacing them with chains.

I started testing the walls at various points with the rams, until I managed to make a small breach in the south end of the island. I then coordinated an attack across the breach with a bombardment from all sides by the navy. I then personally took part in the attack on the city, fighting from the top of a siege tower, like any real king should. Once my troops forced their way into the city, we easily overtook the garrison, and quickly captured the city. I spared the citizens that took shelter in the temples and pardoned them, including the Lord of San Francisco.

I then was able to turn my attention south, to Los Angles where my future waited me. We had few skirmishes along the way, Hawk was still licking his wounds of to the east somewhere. It was another week before we came in view of the magnificent sight that was Los Angles, the City of Splendor. It was a moment I would remember for the rest of my life.


End file.
